Hi, is there any way to emulate the way many tutorials (for example Creating an Atlas Style Map in Photoshop by Ascension) shape a continent/ocean with the hard-mixed mode and the reduced flow to 10%? I'm trying to get that same effect with just making a layer, clouding it, then thresholding it, and then I just want to fill in the area or make ocean from the black and white without all the complicated layers business. I'm sorry this is a stupid question but I'm having trouble understanding what layer I need to fill with 50% gray, because when I do it the screen doesn't look anything like the one in the tutorial.

SSJPabs

07-08-2010, 02:52 AM

Hi, is there any way to emulate the way many tutorials (for example Creating an Atlas Style Map in Photoshop by Ascension) shape a continent/ocean with the hard-mixed mode and the reduced flow to 10%? I'm trying to get that same effect with just making a layer, clouding it, then thresholding it, and then I just want to fill in the area or make ocean from the black and white without all the complicated layers business. I'm sorry this is a stupid question but I'm having trouble understanding what layer I need to fill with 50% gray, because when I do it the screen doesn't look anything like the one in the tutorial.

It was a bit confusing for me too. You only need two layers. The reason some tutorials tell you to duplicate a layer is so you have a "base" to work off of and keep everything starting from the same. Also some are used for other things. Anyhow, the continent ocean with the hard mix is pretty simple but it can definitely be confusing until you get the hang of it. This doesn't answer your question, but it will give you an idea of how the process works and hopefully you can take it from there. :)

1. Make sure your foreground color is black and your background color is white.
2. Filter > Render > Clouds
3. New Layer
4. Edit > Fill (make sure the "Use" is at "50% Gray" then click okay)
5. Set the new layer's mode to Hard Mix
6. Alter the rendered clouds layer using the brushes
7. To get the "baseline" layer, merge them together.

So there you go, two layers, alter the bottom one. The 50% Gray is the one ABOVE the clouds layer then merge them when you are done.

Ascension

07-08-2010, 08:17 AM

There are so many ways to get the initial shape that it's very hard to list them all. I do it one way, and each person does it some other way. Take what we do and create your own method through experimentation...that's the fun part.

Grimnardwarfofthesouth

07-08-2010, 10:57 PM

So when i make the new layer, and then do 50% gray, is it supposed to look like this? because the tutorial has it being pure black&white.

26806

Thanks for the replies also!

Gidde

07-09-2010, 06:50 PM

Hmm, every time I've done it, it has been pure black and white. Are you sure your opacity is at 100% / your gray is actually 50% / your layer mode (on the 50% gray layer) is hard mix? Were your initial clouds done with the background/foreground being pure black/white?

EDIT: Also how do I make a custom brush for mountains? instead of placing one mountain after another?

Ascension

07-09-2010, 11:57 PM

To make brushes in Photoshop you start with a clear background and one empty layer above that. In the empty layer any black or gray pixels will become the brush, white pixels will become transparent. This works with any grayscale image. You could take a picture of the Eiffel Tower, desaturate it to make it grayscale and then click on Edit - Define Brush Preset and then have an Eiffel Tower brush. The Brush Editor is where the magic happens, though. You can increase the spacing, make it rotate, make it scatter about, change the size, and all sorts of other stuff. The one thing that you can not do in Photoshop is make color brushes...for that you need an image pipe or image hose like those found in GIMP or Paint Shop Pro. And in those you can use multiple images to make brushes.

Midgardsormr

07-10-2010, 01:00 AM

To add a bit to what Ascension described, if you make a mountain brush that is just the outline and a little shading (leaving most of the brush white, and therefore transparent), you might have some trouble if you want the mountains to overlap. For that, there's this tutorial: http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?7336-Photoshop-Using-the-Clone-Stamp-tool-for-better-Brush-work

You may or may not need that, but I thought I'd head off frustration at the pass, just in case!